Click to Cart: How Your TV Remote Became the New Buy Button
When 70% of viewers want to shop what they're watching—the seamless evolution from passive viewing to instant purchasing is transforming television into the ultimate commerce platform
When 70% of Viewers Want to Shop What They're Watching
Television advertising is experiencing its most dramatic evolution since the invention of the commercial break. The passive viewer who changed channels during ads has been replaced by an engaged consumer who wants to buy what they see on screen. Shoppable CTV ads are coming to more OTT platforms, and CTV users are embracing them—70% dig TV ads with QR codes, and a solid 62% would actually scan if they saw it—but the real revolution is happening when they don't even need to lift their phones.
Beyond QR Codes: The Remote Control Renaissance
While QR codes grabbed headlines with Coinbase's Super Bowl success—generating 20 million hits in one minute—the future of television commerce lies in something much simpler: the device already in viewers' hands. Shoppable ads that start with the TV remote deliver a quicker path-to-purchase for marketers and for consumers. Shoppable ads on TV using a remote to purchase the product drive about four-times more conversions than the same ads when using QR codes, per Roku's live advertiser campaign data.
The user experience difference is profound. QR codes require viewers to pull up their camera app, scan the code, and navigate to a website on their phone. Remote-based shopping lets viewers make purchases without leaving their viewing experience or switching devices. This seamless integration is transforming how brands think about television's role in the purchase funnel.
Walmart's exclusive partnership with Roku exemplifies this evolution. Users can click on a product in an ad, purchase through Roku Pay, and get quick delivery—all without leaving their TV screen. One way to drive commerce on TV is shortening the time to conversion – hopping from one device to another is always going to present some challenges. This partnership with Walmart is our first foray into shortening that loop.
The Instacart Integration Game-Changer
The partnership between Instacart and Roku represents the most sophisticated implementation of shoppable TV to date. On Roku, CPG advertisers can create a direct path to purchase from their ad creative via text messaging or QR code, with Instacart as the landing destination. With Instacart, people watching Roku can go from seeing an ad to getting the advertised products in their hands in as fast as an hour.
This integration solves the fundamental challenge of television commerce: the gap between inspiration and availability. Traditional TV ads could create desire but couldn't fulfill it immediately. Now, a viewer watching a cooking show can see an ingredient they need, click their remote, and have it delivered before dinner. The friction between "want" and "have" has essentially disappeared.
The data validates the power of this approach. On average, across multiple advertisers, 52% of streamers who purchased a product they saw advertised on Roku via Instacart were new-to-brand. This statistic reveals that shoppable TV isn't just converting existing customers—it's expanding market reach by capturing impulse purchases from viewers who wouldn't have sought out those brands otherwise.
Creative Strategy Meets Commerce
The advertising creative requirements for shoppable TV are fundamentally different from traditional television spots. Shoppable ads require calls-to-action early and often to close the sale. This helps educate viewers that the spot is, in fact, shoppable. The creative needs to signal that action is possible throughout the ad, not just at the end.
When actors or celebrities in the spot tell viewers that the product can be purchased from their TV, conversions can improve more than four times, per Roku data. Even a visual or voice reminder in the creative can deliver two-times improvement. This isn't just about adding a logo or tagline—it's about integrating commerce messaging into the storytelling itself.
30-second spots perform three-times better than 15-second spots in shoppable contexts. Sight, sound and motion tell a story. When consumers lean back to watch TV, they need a moment to understand the brand, the product and the value proposition. The longer format provides time to educate viewers about the product and prime them for the purchase opportunity.
Consumer packaged goods companies are leading this creative evolution. A snack brand might show the product being enjoyed in multiple contexts throughout a 30-second spot, with subtle reminders that viewers can order it for delivery. The creative tells a story while building purchase intent and providing clear action steps.
Platform Wars and Strategic Partnerships
The competition for shoppable TV dominance is intensifying across streaming platforms. NBCUniversal launched its proprietary NBCUniversal Checkout system and ShoppableTV format, allowing viewers to purchase items directly through Peacock. For years, people have been anticipating truly shoppable television, and now multiple platforms are racing to capture this opportunity.
Amazon's approach through Thursday Night Football demonstrates the scale ambitions of major platforms. Prime Video's Thursday Night Football is kicking off its third season with new adtech capabilities that extend shoppable ad reach beyond traditional commercial breaks. The integration of commerce into live sports—traditionally television's most valuable advertising inventory—signals the mainstream adoption of shoppable formats.
The platform strategies differ significantly. Roku focuses on remote-based interactions and partnerships with retailers like Walmart and Instacart. NBCUniversal emphasizes proprietary checkout systems that keep transactions within their ecosystem. Amazon leverages its existing commerce infrastructure to create seamless purchase experiences. Each approach reflects different theories about how consumers prefer to shop while watching television.
The Engagement Data Revolution
Shoppable TV generates unprecedented engagement insights that traditional television could never provide. 65% of viewers are already on their secondary devices, looking up info and visiting advertiser sites while streaming and eager to engage with shoppable content in more ways. This multi-device behavior creates measurement opportunities that help advertisers understand the complete customer journey.
Interactive ads provide viewers with opportunities to engage. If viewers are engaging with their remotes in your creative, you can be assured they are paying attention. This engagement data becomes a powerful signal for both optimization and attribution. Advertisers can identify which creative elements drive interaction and which viewing contexts generate the highest engagement rates.
The measurement capabilities extend beyond immediate purchases. Scan rates and response rates to online outcomes are measurable in CTV, providing advertisers with clear metrics about viewer intent and follow-through. When 70% of viewers who see a QR code scan it and take action, that's not just an advertising metric—it's purchase behavior data that can inform everything from inventory planning to product development.
Market Expansion and Consumer Behavior
Consumer research reveals the broader potential for shoppable television. A third of connected device owners would be interested in being able to purchase clothing or jewelry that they see actors wearing in a film or on a TV series directly from the streaming platform. This finding suggests that shoppable TV opportunities extend far beyond traditional product placements.
The fashion industry is particularly well-positioned for this evolution. Streaming services could partner with costume designers and fashion brands to make character wardrobes instantly purchasable. A viewer watching a Netflix series could click their remote to buy the dress worn by their favorite character, creating new revenue streams for both entertainment and fashion companies.
The technology infrastructure is finally catching up to consumer expectations. For a commerce experience to really be valuable, it has to scale, and the partnerships between streaming platforms, payment processors, and fulfillment providers are creating the ecosystem necessary for mainstream adoption.
Industry Transformation and Future Implications
The rise of shoppable TV is forcing traditional television networks to reconsider their fundamental business models. Advertising-supported television has historically been a two-sided market connecting advertisers and audiences. Shoppable TV creates a three-sided market that includes advertisers, audiences, and commerce partners, fundamentally changing the value proposition for all participants.
Retail media networks are extending their reach from websites and apps into television programming. The partnership between Roku and Instacart demonstrates how grocery retail media can capture television audiences, while Walmart's Roku integration shows how general merchandise retailers can create new touchpoints with customers.
The implications extend to content creation itself. As shoppable capabilities mature, content creators may develop programming specifically designed to showcase products in shoppable contexts. Cooking shows, home improvement programs, and fashion content become natural vehicles for commerce integration.
The future belongs to platforms and brands that understand television as an interactive medium rather than a passive one. The remote control has evolved from a channel-changing device to a commerce interface, and the companies that design experiences around this reality will capture the new television economy.